View source for Ida Laura Pfeiffer

{{short description|Austrian explorer and writer, editor}}
[[Image:Ida Pfeiffer.jpg|thumb|Ida Pfeiffer<br>(photographed by [[Franz Hanfstaengl]])]]

'''Ida Laura Pfeiffer''' (14 October 1797, [[Vienna]] – 27 October 1858, Vienna), née '''Reyer''', a famous early female [[Austria]]n professional traveler who became an explorer, [[ethnographer]], and [[travel writer]]; her bestselling journals were translated into seven languages. She journeyed an estimated {{convert|32,000|km|mi}} by land and {{convert|240,000|km|mi}} by sea through [[Southeast Asia]], [[the Americas]], the [[Middle East]], and [[Africa]], and made two trips around the world between 1846 and 1855.<ref>{{cite book |last1= van Wyhe |first1= John |title= Wanderlust: The Amazing Ida Pfeiffer, the First Female Tourist |year= 2019 |publisher= NUS Press |isbn= 9789813250765 |page= 6}}</ref> Though a member of the geographical societies of both Berlin and Paris, she was denied membership by the [[Royal Geographical Society]] in [[London]] as it forbade the election of women before 1913.

==Early life==
Ida Laura Pfeiffer was born in Vienna on 14 October 1797 to a wealthy textile manufacturer named Aloys Reyer. She had five brothers and a younger sister.<ref name="London: Thomas Nelson and Sons">{{cite book |last1=Anonymous |title=The Story of Ida Pfeiffer and Her Travels in Many Lands |date=1879 |publisher=London: Thomas Nelson and Sons. |page=9 |access-date=8 October 2019 |url=https://archive.org/details/lasttravelsofida00pfeiuoft}}</ref> As a child, she preferred boys' clothing, liked sports and exercise, and received the same education as her brothers under the encouragement of her father. "I was not shy," she wrote in her autobiography, "but wild as a boy, and bolder and more forward than my elder brothers."<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last1=Pfeiffer |first1=Ida |title=The Last Travels of Ida Pfeiffer, inclusive a visit to Madagaskar |date=1861 |publisher=Routledge, Warne and Routledge. |location=London |page=x |url=https://archive.org/details/lasttravelsofida00pfeiuoft}}</ref> Her first long journey was a trip to Palestine and Egypt when she was five years old. The influence of this experience remained with her. Following the death of her father in 1806, her mother Anna, disapproving of her previously unconventional upbringing, insisted that she wear dresses and take up piano lessons. After [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon Bonaparte]] conquered Vienna in 1809, some of the French troops were quartered in Reyer's home to Ida's dislike. During the grand review held in [[Schönbrunn Palace]], she protested against foreign occupation by turning her back as the generals rode past.

Reyer was introduced to contemporary explorers by her tutor, Franz Josef Trimmel, and became particularly interested in ''[[Robinson Crusoe]]'' and the writings of [[Alexander von Humboldt]], whom she would later meet in Berlin.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jehle |first1=Hiltgund |title=Ida Pfeiffer: Weltreisende im 19. Jahrhundert: Zur Kulturgeschichte reisender Frauen. |date=1989 |publisher=Waxman |location=Münster |isbn=9783893250202 |page=30 }}</ref>

On 1 May 1820, she married Dr Mark Anton Pfeiffer, a lawyer in [[Lemberg]], (now [[Lviv|Lviv, Ukraine]]). He was 24 years her senior and a widower with a grown-up son. The couple left for Lemberg a week after their wedding. Dr Pfeiffer was soon forced to resign after uncovering corruption among senior government officials in [[Galicia (Central Europe)|Galicia]] and subsequently found it difficult to regain employment. In order to support her family, Pfeiffer moved back and forth between Lemberg and Vienna, where she gave drawing and music lessons and borrowed money from her brothers.

She gave birth to two sons in Vienna: Alfred in 1821 and Oscar in 1824. She also had a daughter who lived only a few days. In 1831, the family's financial situation slightly improved with a legacy after the death of her mother. With this small inheritance, she was able to continue her sons' education. She stayed in Vienna with the boys in 1833, while Dr Pfeiffer remained in Lemberg, near his first son. Dr Pfeiffer occasionally visited his family in Vienna.<ref name=":1">{{cite book|author=Pfeiffer, Ida|chapter=A biography of Ida Pfeiffer (compiled from notes left by herself)|title=The Last Travels of Ida Pfeiffer: Inclusive of a Visit to Madagascar: with an Autobiographical Memoir of the Author|pages=ix–xxxvii|year=1861|location=New York|publisher=Harper & Brothers|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q8MRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR9|postscript=; translated by [[Henry William Dulcken]]}}</ref>

==Travels==
=== Istanbul, Jerusalem, and Iceland (1842–1845) ===
[[File:PFEIFFER(1853) CHRISTIANIA.jpg|thumb|Image extracted from page 169 of Visit to Iceland and the Scandinavian North (Second edition), by PFEIFFER, Ida Laura. Original held and digitized by the British Library.]]
At 45 years old with her sons grown and settled in secure employment, Pfeiffer was finally able to fulfill her childhood dream of traveling to foreign places. She later wrote in ''Reise nach dem skandinavischen Norden und der Insel Island im Jahre 1845'' ("Visit to Iceland and the Scandinavian North," 2 vols., Leipzig, 1845):
<blockquote>
When I was but a little child, I had already a strong desire to see the world.  Whenever I met a travelling-carriage, I would stop involuntarily, and gaze after it until it had disappeared; I used even to envy the postilion, for I thought he also must have accomplished the whole long journey.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pfeiffer |first1=Ida |title=Visit to Iceland and the Scandinavian North |date=1852 |publisher=Ingram |location=London |access-date=9 October 2019 |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1894}}</ref>
</blockquote>

In 1842, she first traveled along the River [[Danube]] to [[Istanbul]], from there she continued to [[Jerusalem]], stopping at [[Smyrna]], [[Rhodes]], [[Cyprus]], [[Beirut]], [[Caesarea Maritima|Caesarea]], and [[Jaffa]]. She returned to Beirut on 10 July 1842 and sailed for Egypt. She visited [[Alexandria]], [[Cairo]], and the [[Red Sea]] before returning home via [[Rome]]. Among those she met on the trip was landscape painter [[Hubert Sattler]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Plasser |first1=Gerhard |title=Hubert Sattler und Ida Pfeiffer (1797–1858) |journal=Salzburger Museumblätter |date=2009 |volume=November Nr 9/10 |pages=5–7}}</ref> the British artist [[William Henry Bartlett]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bartlett |first1=William Henry |title=Footsteps of our Lord and his Apostles in Syria, Greece and Italy |date=1851 |publisher=A. Hall, Virtue & Co. |location=London}}</ref> and the Bohemian botanist, [[Friedrich von Berchtold|Count Friedrich von Berchtold]].

She published an anonymous account of her journey in ''Reise einer Wienerin in das Heilige Land'' ("A Vienna woman's trip to the Holy Land," 2 vols., Vienna, 1844). In return, she received 700 [[Austro-Hungarian florin|florins]] to fund her next trip.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jehle |first1=Hiltgund |title=Ida Pfeiffer: Weltreisende im 19. Jahrhundert: Zur Kulturgeschichte reisender Frauen. |date=1989 |publisher=Waxman |location=Münster |isbn=9783893250202 |page=73}}</ref> The book was an instant success. It went through three editions and was translated into Czech in 1846 and English in 1852.
  
In 1845, Pfeiffer set out to [[Scandinavia]] and [[Iceland]]. In preparation for her travel, she studied English and Danish as well as how to preserve natural specimens and take [[daguerreotype]]s. The adventure began on 10 April 1845. She traveled from Vienna to [[Copenhagen]], then boarded the ''Johann'' on 4 May, reaching [[Hafnarfjörður]] on the southwest coast of Iceland in eleven days. She rode to [[Reykjavík]] on horseback and toured the geothermal area of [[Krýsuvík]]. She proceeded to visit the [[Gullfoss|Golden Falls]] and climb the volcano [[Hekla|Mount Hekla]]. After her return to Denmark, she took a small steamer north to [[Gothenburg|Gothenburg, Sweden]] and from there, went further north to [[Norway]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=van Wyhe |first1=John |title=Wanderlust: The Amazing Ida Pfeiffer, the First Female Tourist|year=2019 |publisher=NUS Press |isbn=9789813250765 |pages=51–57 }}</ref>

She came back to Vienna on 4 October 1845 and published her journal the following year: ''Reise nach dem skandinavischen Norden und der Insel Island'' ("Trip to the Scandinavian North and the island of Iceland," Pest, 1846). English translations of the book appeared in Britain and the US in 1852.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pfeiffer |first1=Ida |title=A Journey to Iceland and Travels in Sweden and Norway |url=https://archive.org/details/journeytoicelan00coopgoog |quote=editions:VqAS57N7xXMC. | publisher=R. Bentley |date=1852 |access-date=9 October 2019}}</ref>

=== First trip round the world (1846–1848) ===
[[File:Pfeiffer Madras.jpg|thumb|Illustration from "The Story of Ida Pfeiffer and her Travels in many Lands"<ref name="London: Thomas Nelson and Sons"/>]]
In 1846, Pfeiffer started on a journey round the world, visiting [[Brazil]], [[Chile]] and other countries of [[South America]], [[Tahiti]], [[China]], [[India]], [[Persian Empire|Persia]], [[Asia Minor]] and [[Greece]], returning to Vienna in 1848. The results were published in ''Eine Frauenfahrt um die Welt'' ("A Woman's Journey round the World," 3 vols., Vienna, 1850).<ref>{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Pfeiffer, Ida Laura|volume=21|page=340}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Pfeiffer |first1=Ida |title=Eine Frau fährt um die Welt: Reise von Wien nach Brasilien, Chili, Otahaiti, China, Ost-Indien, Persien und Kleinasien |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8oJXAAAAcAAJ |publisher=Gerold |date=1850 |access-date=9 October 2019}}</ref>

She boarded the Danish brig ''Caroline'', sailing southwest from [[Hamburg]] out into the [[Atlantic]] and across the equator, entering the harbor of [[Rio de Janeiro]] on 16 September 1846. Along with [[Friedrich von Berchtold]], she traveled up the [[Macacu River]] to [[Nova Friburgo]] in southeastern Brazil and ventured deep into the forest, accompanied by a single servant. Upon her return to Rio, she booked a spot on the English barque ''John Renwick'' and set off for Chile, arriving at [[Valparaiso]] on 2 March 1847. She then sailed to the island of [[Tahiti]] before disembarking in [[Macao]] on the coast of China on 9 July.

For the next two months, she visited temples and villages in [[Hong Kong]], went on a hunting excursion in [[Singapore]], toured [[Colombo]] and [[Kandy]], inquired about Bengali traditions in [[Calcutta]], and visited the holy city of [[Benares]]. From [[Delhi]], she arranged a bullock cart to [[Bombay]] under the advisement of Austrian scholar [[Aloys Sprenger]], passing through [[Hyderabad]] and the [[Daulatabad Fort]] and the [[Ellora Caves]] in [[Aurangabad]].

On 23 April 1848, she left Bombay for [[Baghdad]], then part of the [[Ottoman Empire]]. While exploring the ruins of the ancient city of [[Ctesiphon]], she encountered [[Dowlatshah#Offspring|Prince Emam Qoli Mirza]] of the Qajar dynasty. She proceeded to tour the archaeological sites of [[Babylon]], [[Borsippa]], and [[Nineveh]], facilitated by the British Resident [[Henry Creswicke Rawlinson]] and [[Hormuzd Rassam]], the British Vice-Consul at [[Mosul]]. During the month of [[Ramadan]], she visited local homes in [[Tabriz]], the capital of [[Azerbaijan]] (now [[East Azerbaijan Province]] in [[Iran]]), and was presented to the Vicegerent, [[Bahman Mirza]].

In August 1848, she set out for [[Nakhchivan (city)|Nakhchivan]] bordering [[Armenia]], and soon joined a caravan heading for [[Tbilisi]], the capital of [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]. She then crossed the [[Black Sea]] into the [[Russian Empire]].

''A Woman's Journey Round the World'' was published in 1850 in three volumes, two years after Pfeiffer's return to Vienna. English translations appeared in Britain in 1851, followed by Dutch (1852), French (1858), and Russian (1867). The book garnered reviews in major international journals, such as ''[[Le Constitutionnel]]'', ''[[The Athenaeum (British magazine)|The Athenaeum]]'', ''[[The Westminster Review]]'', ''[[The Literary Gazette]]'', ''[[The Straits Times]]'', and ''[[Calcutta Review]]''.

=== Second trip round the world (1851–1855)===

To fund her next expedition, Pfeiffer sold 300 guilders worth of specimens to the Royal Museum of Vienna. [[Carl Franz Anton Ritter von Schreibers|Carl von Schreibers]], director of the Viennese natural history collections, and Austrian archaeologist [[Joseph Calasanza von Arneth|Josef von Arneth]] applied for governmental funding on her behalf on the grounds that she had proven herself skilled at procuring rare specimens from far corners of the world. As a result, Pfeiffer was awarded 1,500 guilders.

In 1851, she set off to [[Berlin]] where she was met with an enthusiastic audience. Among them was her childhood hero, Prussian explorer [[Alexander von Humboldt]], whose travels in the Americas inspired a great number of contemporary scientists and naturalists, including [[Charles Darwin]], [[Henry David Thoreau]], [[John Muir]], and [[Ernst Haeckel]]. Pfeiffer was also welcomed by German geographer and cartographer [[Carl Ritter]] who was, at the time, Professor of Geography at the [[University of Berlin]] and with whom she would continue to collaborate after her departure. Both Humboldt and Ritter supported her, and as a result she became the first woman to be awarded the honorary membership of the [[Gesellschaft für Erdkunde zu Berlin|Geographical Society of Berlin]].<ref>Imhof, Viola, "Pfeiffer, Ida" in: Neue Deutsche Biographie 20 (2001), S. 320-321 [Online-Version]; URL: https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/pnd118740792.html#ndbcontent</ref> From Hamburg, Pfeiffer set sail to [[London]] and met with paleontologist [[Richard Owen]], an outspoken critic of [[Charles Darwin]], geographer [[August Heinrich Petermann|Augustus Petermann]] for his expertise on Africa, and William Bartlett, her traveling companion to Jerusalem.

On 27 May 1851, Pfeiffer departed for [[Cape Town|Cape Town, South Africa]]. She arrived on 11 August and soon sent a box of specimens to [[Vincenz Kollar]], curator of the [[Natural History Museum, Vienna|Natural History Museum]] in Vienna. She had intended to penetrate deeper into Africa, but her hopes proved impracticable in light of overwhelming expenses.

She proceeded across the Indian Ocean to the [[Malay Archipelago]], spending two weeks in Singapore where she collected a new species of [[Gryllotalpa|mole cricket]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Animal Detail – Gryllotalpa fulvipes |url=https://florafaunaweb.nparks.gov.sg/special-pages/animal-detail.aspx?id=374 |website=NParks Flora & Fauna Web |access-date=10 October 2019 }}{{Dead link|date=January 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> in addition to fish, seaweed, and [[crustaceans]]. She spent eighteen months in the [[Sunda Islands]], accompanied by [[John Brooke Johnson Brooke|Captain John Brooke]], the nephew and heir of Sir [[James Brooke]]. She visited the [[Dayak people|Dayaks]] of [[Borneo]] and became one of the first explorers to report on the traditions of the [[Batak (Indonesia)|Bataks]] in [[Sumatra]] and the [[Maluku Islands|Malukus]]. Along the way, she encountered Sultan Abdu'l Rashid Muhammad Jamal ud-din of the principality of [[Sintang Regency|Sintang]], renowned [[ichthyologist]] Dr [[Pieter Bleeker]] in [[Batavia, Dutch East Indies|Batavia]] (present-day [[Jakarta]]), and Colonel van der Hart at [[Bukittinggi]] in [[West Sumatra]]. She was granted permission to enter the territories of local villages where she observed dance performances, acquired a finely carved [[tunggal panaluan]], and accumulated a collection of valuable specimens, including ray-finned fish (''[[Homalopterula gymnogaster]]'') and checker barb (''[[Puntius oligolepis]]'').

On 6 July 1853, she sailed across the Pacific to [[North America]]. She arrived on the [[West Coast of the United States]] during the [[California Gold Rush]] and visited [[Sacramento]], [[Marysville, California|Marysville]], [[Crescent City, California|Crescent City]], [[Santa Clara County, California|Santa Clara]], and [[San Jose, California|San Jose]] before heading south to [[Central America]]. After stops at [[Republic of the New Granada|New Granada]] and [[Peru]], she returned to [[Guayaquil]], the main port of [[Ecuador]]. In her book ''A Lady's Second Journey Round the World'' she relates some unpleasant experiences in [[Ecuador]]. However, the ambassador of the United States [[Friedrich Hassaurek]] in his book ''Four Years among Spanish-Americans'' criticized these chapters of her book, as he conceived it as interesting as a personal narrative, but full of misconceptions and inaccuracies.

On 31 May 1854, she boarded a steamer bound for [[New Orleans]] where she stayed for three weeks, then toured the [[Great Lakes Region]]. In her journal, she described visits to American circuses, theaters, private girls' schools, the [[Manhattan Detention Complex]] as well as encounters with the eminent short story writer, [[Washington Irving]], the celebrated surgeon [[John Collins Warren (surgeon, born 1778)|John Collins Warren]], and Swiss-American biologist [[Louis Agassiz]].

Back in Vienna at the end of July 1855, Pfeiffer completed her narrative, ''Meine zweite Weltreise'' ("My second trip around the world"), published in Vienna in 1856. The English translation, ''Second Journey round the World'', was published by Longmans, followed by editions in Dutch (1856), French (1857), Polish (1860), Russian (1876), and Malay (1877–1907).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Heidhues |first1=Mary Somers |title=Woman on the Road: Ida Pfeiffer in the Indies |journal=Archipel |date=2004 |volume=68 |pages=289–313 |doi=10.3406/arch.2004.3839 |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/arch_0044-8613_2004_num_68_1_3839 |access-date=10 October 2019}}</ref> The book was well received with positive reviews in Austrian and German newspapers, the English ''[[Edinburgh Review]]'', and the American literary magazine ''[[The Criterion (American magazine)|Criterion]]''.

=== Madagascar (1856–1858) ===
[[File:Trial of Ida Pfeiffer and Jean Laborde.png|thumb|Trial of Ida Pfeiffer and [[Jean Laborde]]]]
In May 1857, Pfeiffer set out to explore [[Madagascar]]. Her first stop was [[Cape Town, South Africa]]. There, she encountered the French civil engineer and slave trader [[Joseph-François Lambert]]. Unbeknownst to Pfeiffer, Lambert had joined [[Jean Laborde]] and a few other Europeans in a plot to replace [[Ranavalona I]], the queen of Madagascar, with the more moderate crown prince, Rakoto (the future king [[Radama II of Madagascar|Radama II]]). Pfeiffer unwittingly became part of the conspiracy and was expelled from Madagascar in July 1857 after the queen discovered the attempted coup.

During Pfeiffer's passage from the capital of [[Antananarivo]] to the coastal port of departure, she had unfortunately contracted a disease (likely malaria) and never fully recovered. She suffered through spells of fever on [[Mauritius]] and left for London on 10 March 1858. She then traveled to Hamburg but was struck by a renewed outbreak of vomiting and diarrhea.

Ida Laura Pfeiffer died in Vienna on 27 October 1858 in the home of her brother, Carl Reyer. A travelogue describing her final voyage, ''Reise nach Madagaskar'' ("Trip to Madagascar"), was published in Vienna in 1861 in 2 volumes and included a biography written by her son Oscar Pfeiffer.
[[Image:Ida Pfeiffer Dauthage.jpg|thumb|Ida Pfeiffer dressed for a collection foray with an insect net and a specimen container slung over her shoulder<br>(lithograph by [[Adolf Dauthage]]).]]

== Natural history ==
During her travels, Pfeiffer collected plants, insects, mollusks, marine life, and mineral specimens. Many were sold to [[Museum für Naturkunde]] in Berlin and the [[British Museum]], including but not limited to:
*[[Orb-weaver spider]] (''Poltys idae'')
*''Lonchodes pfeifferae''
*Freshwater prawn (''Palaemon idae'')
*Snails (''Vaginula idae'' and ''Pupina superba'')
*Soft-shell turtles from [[Ambon, Maluku|Ambon]] and [[Seram]] of [[Maluku Islands|Maluku]]

The [[Naturhistorisches Museum]] in Vienna purchased 721 specimens from Pfeiffer's collection in Madagascar and Mauritius, including nine species of mammals, fourteen species of birds, 23 species of reptiles, three species of crustaceans, fifteen species of mollusks, ten species of spiders, and 185 species of insects.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kollar |first1=V. |title=Über Ida Pfeiffer's Sendungen von Naturalien aus Mauritius und Madagascar |date=1858 |location=Vienna |publisher=Hof- & St. Druckerei |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kq0-AAAAcAAJ |via=books.google.com |access-date=10 October 2019}}</ref>

== Contemporary influences ==
She is referenced to as "Madam Pfeiffer" in [[Henry David Thoreau|Thoreau]]'s book, ''[[Walden]]''. Thoreau talks of how she wore more civilized clothes as she got closer to her homeland.

[[Alfred Wallace]] frequently mentioned Pfeiffer in his letters to his sister, to his colleague [[Henry Walter Bates]], and to [[Samuel Stevens (naturalist)|Samuel Stevens]], a natural history agent in London who supported Pfeiffer's collecting expedition to the Americas. In fact, Wallace would visit many of the same places that Pfeiffer did before him, including the Malay Archipelago.

[[Charles Darwin]] cited Pfeiffer in his ''[[Descent of Man]]'' (1871), remarking that "in Java, a yellow, not a white girl, is considered, according to Madame Pfeiffer, a beauty."<ref>{{cite book |last=Darwin |first=Charles R. |title=The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex |publisher=John Murray |location=London |date=1871 |page=347 |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Descent_of_Man_(Darwin)}}</ref>

==Recognition==
Pfeiffer started documenting her travels and experiences in many well written, inspiring [[travel literature|travelogue]] books as the first solo women traveler. These travelogues gained her fame in the United States and Europe which led to Austria gifting her 1500 [[gold coin #Middle Ages and Early Modern period|gulden]]s to support her in her travels. Other ways people showed their support was when she was given free rides on Dutch and American ships, with letters of recommendation written for her by a famous explorers and geographers [[Alexander von Humboldt]] and [[Carl Ritter]]. Pfeiffer was given a gold medal for science and art by the king of Prussia, which was an amazing accomplishment for an uneducated woman in her 40s.

==Legacy==
[[File:Grave of Ida Pfeiffer, Vienna, 2017.jpg|thumb|Grave of Ida Pfeiffer, Vienna, 2017]]
In 1867, Austrian herpetologist [[Franz Steindachner]] named a species of frog native to Madagascar, ''[[Boophis idae]]'', in honor of Ida Pfeiffer.<ref>[[species:Bo Beolens|Beolens, Bo]]; [[species:Michael Watkins|Watkins, Michael]]; [[species:Michael Grayson|Grayson, Michael]] (2013). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Amphibians''. Exeter, England: Pelagic Publishing. xiii + 244 pp. {{ISBN|978-1-907807-41-1}}. (Ida, p. 101).</ref>

In 1892, the Viennese Society for the Further Education of Women transferred Ida Pfeiffer's remains to a place of honor in the [[Vienna Central Cemetery]]. She was the first woman to be admitted to the rows of honored dead.

In 2000, a street in Munich was renamed as Ida-Pfeiffer-Straße.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ida-Pfeiffer-Straße, 81929 München, Germany |url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ida-Pfeiffer-Stra%C3%9Fe,+81929+M%C3%BCnchen,+Germany |website=Google Maps |access-date=10 October 2019}}</ref>

In 2018, the [[University of Vienna]] established an "Ida Pfeiffer Professorship" in the Faculty of Earth Sciences, Geography and Astronomy.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ida Pfeiffer Professorship |url=https://fgga.univie.ac.at/en/about-us/ida-pfeiffer-professorship/ |website=Universität Wien |access-date=10 October 2019}}</ref>

Pfeiffer has been of interest to historians of travel. Works of research on her life include:
*Hiltgund Jehle's ''Ida Pfeiffer: Weltreisende im 19. Jahrhundert'' (1989)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jehle |first1=Hiltgund |title=Ida Pfeiffer: Weltreisende im 19. Jahrhundert: Zur Kulturgeschichte reisender Frauen. |date=1989 |publisher=Waxman |location=Münster |isbn=9783893250202 }}</ref>
* Gabriele Habinger's publication of her surviving correspondence<ref>{{cite book |last1=Habinger |first1=Gabriele |title=Ida Pfeiffer – "Wir leben nach Matrosenweise" |date=2008 |publisher=Promedia |isbn=9783853712894 }}</ref>
*[[John van Wyhe]]'s 2019 biography, ''Wanderlust''<ref>{{cite book |last1=van Wyhe |first1=John |title=Wanderlust: The Amazing Ida Pfeiffer, the First Female Tourist |year=2019 |publisher=NUS Press |isbn=9789813250765}}</ref>
*[https://northsouth.com/books/ida-and-the-world-beyond-mount-kaiserzipf/ Ida and the World Beyond Mount Kaiserzipf:] a picture book highlighting her life and achievements<ref>{{cite book | url=https://northsouth.com/books/ida-and-the-world-beyond-mount-kaiserzipf/ | title=Ida and the World Beyond Mount Kaiserzipf |author =Linda Schwalbe |work=NorthSouth Books | date=September 2020 | publisher=Simon and Schuster |access-date=26 October 2023 |isbn=978-0-7358-4420-9}}</ref>
*Xavier Sistach's 2023 biography, ''Les aventures d'Ida Pfeiffer'' (in Catalan), and the accompanying webpage with additional resources.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*Baker, D. B. (1996) ''Pfeiffer, Wallace, Allen and Smith: The discovery of the Hymenoptera of the Malay Archipelago'', ''Archives of Natural History'' 23:153–200 {{ISSN|0260-9541}}
*Down, Alec. ''Ida Pfeiffer in China: Examining the Suppression of Gender Roles in the Face of European Colonial Superiority'' (2013). [https://web.archive.org/web/20181107095323/https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/libraryrg_studentpub/13/ ''Library Research Grants''.]   
*Heidhues, Mary Somers (2004) ''Woman on the Road: Ida Pfeiffer in the Indies'', ''Archipel'' 68 pp.&nbsp;289–313 [http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/arch_0044-8613_2004_num_68_1_3839 Online here]
*{{cite book |last= Leidler |first= Keith |title= Female Caligula: Ranavalona, the Mad Queen of Madagascar |publisher= [[John Wiley & Sons|Wiley]] |year= 2005 |isbn= 047002223X |ref=none}}
* Robinson, Jane, ''[https://archive.org/details/waywardwomenguid00robi/page/24/mode/2up Wayward Women : A Guide to Women Travellers]'', Oxford University Press, 1991, pp.&nbsp;25–26
*{{cite book |last1=van Wyhe |first1=John |title=Wanderlust: The Amazing Ida Pfeiffer, the First Female Tourist |year=2019 |publisher=NUS Press |isbn=9789813250765 |ref=none}}
*Habinger, Gabriele (2022) ''Eine Wiener Biedermeierdame erobert die Welt. Die Lebensgeschichte der Ida Pfeiffer (1797-1858)''. Revised and enlarged edition, Vienna: Promedia Verlag, ISBN 978-3-85371-508-6
*Watt, Helga Schutte. “Ida Pfeiffer: A Nineteenth-Century Woman Travel Writer.” ''The German Quarterly'', vol. 64, no. 3, 1991, pp. 339–52. ''JSTOR'', <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.2307/406396</nowiki>. Accessed 24 Feb. 2025. 

== External links ==
{{commonscat}}
* [http://sophie.byu.edu/?q=node/3349 Works by Ida Laura Pfeiffer] at The Sophie Project
* {{Gutenberg author |id=3807| name=Ida Pfeiffer}}
** [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/18037 The Story of Ida Pfeiffer, and Her Travels in Many Lands], an 1879 biography.
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Ida Laura Pfeiffer |sopt=t}}
* {{librivox author |id=4525}}
*2 short radio episodes ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20071130165103/http://californialegacy.org/radio_anthology/scripts/pfeiffer.html American Steamers]'' and ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20071130165103/http://californialegacy.org/radio_anthology/scripts/pfeiffer.html A Bear in the Streets]'' from ''A Lady's Second Journey Round the World'', 1855. [[California Legacy Project]].
* {{Cite NIE|wstitle=Pfeiffer, Ida|year=1905 |short=x}}
* {{Cite Nuttall|wstitle=Pfeiffer, Ida |short=x}}
*{{Cite Americana|wstitle=Pfeiffer, Ida Laura Reyer|ref=none}}
*{{Cite AmCyc|wstitle=Pfeiffer, Ida|ref=none}}
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[[Category:Explorers from the Austrian Empire]]
[[Category:Naturalists from the Austrian Empire]]
[[Category:Entomologists]]
[[Category:Women entomologists]]
[[Category:Writers from Vienna]]
[[Category:Austrian women writers]]
[[Category:1797 births]]
[[Category:1858 deaths]]
[[Category:19th century in Madagascar]]
[[Category:Women travel writers]]
[[Category:19th-century travel writers]]
[[Category:19th-century women writers]]
[[Category:Female explorers]]
[[Category:Explorers of Asia]]
[[Category:Burials at the Vienna Central Cemetery]]